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“
However long the day, the evening will come.”- Irish Proverb
Hello from Dublin! It has been a VERY long day, starting with heading to the Vancouver airport about 9ish yesterday morning. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the airport, along with mimosas (our favourite way to start holidays, if we are flying in the morning). Our flight to Toronto would have been quite pleasant had it not been for the two small children sitting behind us, who either emitted ear spitting screams, or fairly continually kicked the back of our seats. Sigh. Luckily the flight wasn’t too long, at just over 4 hours. It was quite a new airplane, I think, with the windows that dim instead of the shades that pull down. The entertainment system was good and both of us watched a couple of movies. There are no complimentary meals or snacks on domestic Air Canada flights, which is why we had a late breakfast at the airport.
In Toronto we decided to spend our layover at the Plaza Premium Lounge, where we enjoyed a beer, and a glass of wine, along with their buffet (we had a selection of salads and a few little desserts). We
left the very comfortable lounge to discover that our flight (along with all Air Canada flights) were delayed indefinitely as Air Canada had a system wide computer malfunction. Our flight to Dublin was supposed to leave at 11:05 pm, and we watched the board anxiously as all the flights kept getting further and further delayed. We had nothing booked on arrival so I wasn’t too worried. Around 12:30 am they announced that they had gotten the go-ahead to start boarding our flight, to which all of us waiting in the boarding lounge gave a cheer. We left shortly after 1 am. I didn’t expect any food being served until breakfast, so was surprised to be served a dinner (veggie pasta for me) shortly after takeoff. Susan and I both had a gin and tonic, then settled into the flight. Luckily there were no seat-kicking children sitting behind us! I can never manage to really sleep on flights, but I dozed for maybe an hour or so of the just over 6 hour flight. We landed in Dublin a bit after 12:30 pm, around 2 hours late.
We made it through customs quickly, installed our local SIM cards in our
phones, and picked up our bags. We found the place to exchange our voucher for our Airlink Express bus tIckets, and hopped on the bus which left promptly. Our stop was only a couple of minutes walk from our accommodation, O’Neill‘s Pub and Townhouse, in central Dublin. It is a very picturesque old pub, with very cute guestrooms above. We rested in our room for a short time, then made a plan of action. We decided a pint was definitely in order, followed by a walk around the neighbourhood. I enjoyed a leisurely pint of Chieftain Irish Pale Ale, from a Cork brewery, and Susan had a half of an Irish Pale Ale called Galway Hooker. I quite liked the Chieftain.
We then headed off to discover the neighbourhood. We walked past Trinity College, and popped in briefly (we will see it tomorrow when we see the Book of Kells). I got a Trinity College hoodie at the shop, and we continued on our way. We walked along Grafton Street and checked out various shops (I got a shamrock charm for my Pandora bracelet). It was drizzling on and off but it was quite mild so it wasn’t unpleasant.
After an hour or so we were both really fading, so we walked back to O’Neill‘s. A quick freshen up in our room, then we went downstairs for dinner. We both really enjoyed our meals; I had fish and chips, and Susan had a fisherman’s pie. We each had two half’s of different beer so we could try a few more. I had Smithwick‘s Red Ale (good) and another Chieftain‘s.
It‘s an early night for us tonight as we are pretty exhausted. We are looking forward to a fun day tomorrow in Dublin, including yes, more beer, as we will be touring the Guinness Storehouse 😊
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Scott
non-member comment
Glad to hear that the delay wasn’t too long. The first plane was the Dreamliner. It’s one of the nicest passenger planes out there.